The Generalized System of Preferences (or GSP) is a program managed by the USTR to grant trade advantages (such as reduced tariff levels) to particular developing countries, in cases where the United States is pleased with policy directions taken with those countries.
In simple terms, GSP is the "carrot" to go with the "stick" of trade sanctions in US trade policy.
The GSP played an important role in the expansion of international intellectual property laws during the 1980s, in the lead-up to the enactment of TRIPs.
